Eileen Morgan to Penn State Trustees: Set Aside a Date to Honor Joe Paterno

Good day. I understand that you have recently received countless letters from Penn State alumni urging the Board to accept the structural reform as suggested by Auditor General Jack Wagner. I applaud and support the alumni for this effort and hope that change will be forthcoming. I also know that you and the other trustees have been publicly chastised for your actions and inactions since the night of Nov. 9, 2011. Although I believe there are convincing arguments to justify those verbal attacks, that is not my intent today. You see, those arguments will be sustained in the future by the pending trials of Messrs. Curley, Schultz, and Spanier, by the NCAA lawsuits, and/or by other means not yet known.

Today I would like to address the here and now. I would like to request your action on a matter that does not require in-depth, time consuming restructuring, or holding out for future events to transpire. I am making one simple proposal: Set aside a day, recognized by Penn State, to honor Mr. Joseph Vincent Paterno.

Would you give the Penn State family a day to come together and celebrate the man who built this school from the inside out? It requires nothing on your part except approval. The alumni and supporters would organize the event and would work with the Outreach Committee to stay within guidelines. I would even step out on a limb to say that we would be able to fund the event with private donations. I would suggest Friday, Sept. 6, before the first home game of the 2013 season. That Friday would be a fantastic day of celebration culminating into Penn State Football Eve.

Trustee, I hope that you would seriously consider this request. It will take an appreciative amount of time and effort to coordinate this project but ‘WE ARE PENN STATE’ and we have the commitment, resources, and passion to bring this dream to fruition. Although Joe would probably not want all this fanfare, this is something the students, the alumni, and the entire Penn State family needs to do in order to finally celebrate the life of our teacher, to bring closure, and in your words, to help us ‘move on.’

The time has come to remove the veil of guilt and shame that Jerry Sandusky’s crimes have draped over this great institution. It is time to unite, stand strong, and show the immense pride we have in this university, the pride which has been built on academia, honesty and integrity. And it is time to finally honor Joe Paterno.

How it Happened: Penn State faced its toughest opponent of the season thus far in third-ranked Iowa. Penn State faced a stacked lineup in its first three bouts with No. 2 Nico Megaludis facing top-ranked Matt McDonough at 125, unranked Jordan Conaway against No. 2 Tony Ramos at 133 and unranked Bryan Pearsall faci